Misc FileOnce more we delve into that dark, mysterious file labeled “Misc.”The following comes from a July 3, 1903 issue of The Weston Chronicle:Sprinkle, Sprinkle, water cart,We all wonder where thou art;Merchant’s goods are awful dusty,Voices getting mighty husky,Maybe sprinkle man is fishingBut us fellows are all wishingThat he’ll get a water haulIf we stand this dust till fall;So wake up from Van Winkles sleep,Get a move upon the street.Since the above was put into type arrangements were made to have our streets sprinkled. Ye editorAugust 25, 1905 brought us this: “The colored Methodist church was torn down this week. The members are contemplating building a new church edifice in the near future.”The Oct. 22, 1891 issue reported “Joseph Mosnat, a deaf and dumb printer, and a native of Weston made us a pleasant call Friday. He is now a resident of Topeka, Kan., and came over to see his father’s grave in Laurel Hill cemetery. His father, J. J. Mosnat, was a carpenter here when the town numbered its population over 5,000 and he died here in 1855 of cholera.”“Sharon MacMillan of Lake Forest, California, and Earl H. Carraway of Laguna Hills, California, exchanged marriage vows Sunday, June 19, in a two o’clock ceremony. The ceremony was held at the Lake Forest Sun and Sail Club.The bride is the daughter of the late Mr. and Mrs. Charley MacMillan and is a former resident of Weston.”The first woman naval officer in American history was Captain Mildred McAfee Horton. She was born in Parkville in 1900. Her grandfather Rev. John Armstrong McAfee, was a co-founder and the first president of Park College. Her father, Dr. Cleland Boyd McAfee, taught there.The native Platte Countian was the president of Wellesley College in Massachusetts when World War II started. She had become the second youngest president in the history of the college in 1936. In 1942 she entered the military service and served for 3 and one half years. In the years following her duties as the first director of women in the Navy, she went on to be the first woman elected to the boards of the New York Life Insurance Co., the National Broadcasting Co. and the Radio Corporation of America.April 18, 1891 saw the death of Mrs. Catherine Butler, wife of Sadler Butler. He operated a furniture factory where Twin Gables stands. Today it is a residence on east Market Street right before the bridge.May 26, 1856, Mother Stanislaus Saul and Sister Lidwina Littenecker, Sister Pauline, Sister Eullalia and Sister Mechtilda Medd left St. Louis from St. Joseph’s Mother House. On reaching Weston, they learned to their great dismay that they had arrived several months earlier than they were expected and the convent was not ready for them. The priest, Father Fisch, was not home, having gone on a missionary tour of his wide-flung parish.While awaiting Father Fisch’s return, the nuns were the guests of Mrs. Elijah Cody; the aunt of young Bill Cody who was later called Buffalo Bill.We close this marvelous file for now. Any time you would care to come in and look through the file, please do so. Come in any time, we’d love to see your smiling face and satisfy your inquiring mind. The number to call is 816-386-2977 or 816-668-9986 for questions, research or suggestions.

The Historic town of Weston has many popular events scheduled throughout the year. For more information816-640-2909www.westonmo.com

copyright 2009Weston Historical Museum

By Carolyn A. Larsen, Curator

Mish MashAre you up for some trivia about our town? Then sit back and have some fun with it.March 10, 1911: Last Saturday night as Felix Sorrell was standing in front of A.P. Doppler’s grocery store he suddenly became overbalanced and took a header through one of Mr. Doppler’s plate glass windows.Nov. 29, 1918: John Harpst has an option on the Bela South property on Walnut street, contemplating purchase of same. Mr. Harpst and his bride are now domiciled there.March 12, 1937: Rounding out fifty-seven years of residence in one home, Mrs. Evalina Newton died at her home near Pleasant Ridge Friday night at a little more than ninety-two years old. She was the widow of Andrew J. Newton. They were married when she was just fourteen years old. She was the daughter of Thomas Quinn of Virginia and Margaret Phillips Fortune of Kentucky and they came to the Platte Purchase just one month before Evalina was born on Feb. 14, 1845.November 26, 1937: Our honorable Mayor has ordered a Clean-Up Day tomorrow. He will send a truck and helpers out to gather up all your accumulated trash, cans and what have you. Mayor Henson is doing a fine job at trying to keep our yards and gutters in good shape and the least we citizens can do is to cooperate by cleaning up.Same date as above: Miss Victoria Brill recently accepted a nursing position, through civil service, in the Veterans’ hospital at Fort Lyons, Colorado. Miss Brill is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Matt Brill of Weston and is a recent graduate of St. Joseph’s School of Nursing, Kansas City. She has been employed the past several months in a hospital in Concordia, Kansas.Nov. 26, 1937: A large tobacco barn, full of tobacco, and belonging to Mrs. J.J. Burgess of Dearborn was completely destroyed by fire early Sunday night. The loss on the 16,000 to 18,000 pounds of tobacco was estimated at more than $3,500.March 23, 1900: Wild geese were headed north this week in great armies. They were flying quite high, which observers say is a harbinger of spring. This year, however, it is doubtful if even a wild goose can tell today the direction of the wind tomorrow.August 26, 1921, The Weston Boy Scout ball team has received an invitation from the state officials at Lansing to come to that place next Saturday and play the Lansing Boy Scout team on the new diamond that has just been completed on the State Penitentiary grounds. Our boys have the honor of receiving the first invitation extended to a Missouri team to play on these grounds by the official board. B.F. Fleming, Scoutmaster, informs us that the boys have accepted the invitation and are preparing to go.That’s it for this time. Come see us at the museum and find other interesting trivia among other items in your museum. We’d love to see you!

NovemberThe picture with this week’s column shows a larger as either the camera or a mist obscured the third floor of the home. This particular home was located where the Snow Creek Ski area now exists. The donor of the picture, Mrs. Pete Cline, says the home was called “the Castle” by many and it was turned into apartments. Of course, the home no longer stands, but does anyone know for certain who built it, was it always apartments, when was it built, was it simply abandoned, etc? If you can tell us anything about it, the number to call is 816-386-9986. Thank you.Our annual Weston Historical Museum dinner was Nov. 16th. The dinner, catered by the Avalon, was delicious. There were reservations made for 67 individuals. Our speaker, Kelvin Crow, gave Ft. Leavenworth and Weston through all the years. It was a very interesting talk and Mr. Crow was an amusing and interesting speaker.A silent auction netted your museum about $100.00. New members on the Board of Trustees are Ms. Susan Cline Grinlinton and Mr. David Knox. The slate of current officers were re-elected to their positions.If you could not make it to the dinner and program, perhaps next year. I must say, however, that you did miss a very informative talk.Your museum will close for the winter months as of Sunday the 7th of December. This is a little earlier than usual but there is much work to be done such as changing of display cases, taking down of Christmas decorations,The E.L. learning night for the grade school Wednesday evening was so much fun! When you walked into the gym you could just feel the energy and the excitement sparking through the place! If you did not go, you missed a wonderful evening, from the family scavenger hunt to the stories of the many different Native American tribes, to the Lewis and Clark Fort, the many gathered artifacts and the man-made items, to the walk down Main Street Weston with the fantastic replicas of many of the buildings and their histories told by the children. There was so much more that I have not mentioned.You could see how hard these children worked and how much information they had ‘soaked up’ while doing so. Then there were the teachers who worked so much harder to put these children on the road to discoveries and information.It’s a long way from the way I was taught and so much more effective. A BIG Thanks to ALL the great teachers, the principal and volunteers and a big cheer for the students! Parents, give you child an extra hug and give the teacher a word of thanks. They all deserve it.Need a gift for someone this Christmas? Books are always a great gift to give and to receive. Come check out the many books at the museum, many done by local authors.Perhaps you want to remember someone in a special way or do something for the person who has everything. How about a ten or fifteen dollar donation to the museum in their name?Though we are closing soon, we will be busy from right after the New Year until we open again in mid-March. You can drop in and lend a hand for a hour or so, become a full fledged volunteer, do some research, encourage us in our work, etc. However, we will be glad to see your smiling faces!

Since the winter months are upon us, I thought you might like to see this item from a January 1, 1892 Weston Chronicle “During the week considerable ice has been stored away for the hot summer months. Our local ice dealers and others who put up their own ice have their houses well filled.All week several hundred men have been storing away ice in the mammoth ice houses of Swift and Yates at Bean Lake. Considerable ice was also stored at Sugar Lake by Armour. The firms at the lakes do nearly all their work by machinery. The ice is cut by plows operated by steam and is hoisted to the houses by a chute which runs by steam. The combined forces at Sugar and Bean Lakes are putting up not less than 2,000 tons of ice per day. The cost of cutting and storing the ice is about 15 cents a ton. It costs the firms taking ice from the Missouri river about sixty cents a ton to cut and store it. The ice is from eight to twelve inches thick and of a clear quality. If the weather continues cold the K.C. road will have their hands full in shipping ice to Kansas City and St. Joseph.”October 11, 1940 we found this article, :Lewis Turner and family of Union Star have recently returned from their vacation trip to California’s points of interest. They enjoyed a boat trip to Catalina Island; enroute back to port, Miss Mildred Turner had a thrilling experience that she will long remember--that of losing her hat when it blew off in the Pacific Ocean. They also saw a portion of the Pacific Fleet which was in port at San Pedro, Calif. The Turner family was gone ten days.Mr. Turner is a brother of W.G. and H. Turner and Mrs. Nellie McCalley of Weston.”

Weston Historical Museum601 Main Street - Weston, MO 64098

a German Lithograph painted late 1800's, depicts Weston, Mo when the town was a busy river port